posted by gut

Was it really?  Lindsay Graham today was saying if Iran fires things back up that they would be days away from being a real nuclear threat.  Which doesn't make it sound like Obama's deal wasn't working.

Dropping money on a tarmac to keep Iran under control isnt a "deal"....its a "bribe".  Governments shouldnt do that.  Thats what Obama did.  

posted by gut

Was it really?  Lindsay Graham today was saying if Iran fires things back up that they would be days away from being a real nuclear threat.  Which doesn't make it sound like Obama's deal wasn't working.

Stealthily slow walking to become a nuclear state does not indicate a deal is working either.

posted by majorspark

Stealthily slow walking to become a nuclear state does not indicate a deal is working either.

Lack of evidence for that aside, if it has slowed progress - as Graham clearly indicates - then the deal is not ineffective.

posted by gut

Lack of evidence for that aside, if it has slowed progress - as Graham clearly indicates - then the deal is not ineffective.

If the deals goal is to slow progress rather than prevent I would agree it was effective.  We slowed the Norks down too with deals giving them food to feed their scientists.  Anyways Trump gave the Iranians an out to military retaliation if they claim one of their generals went rouge.  Maybe he is privy to intelligence and that is actually the case but I highly doubt it.

New Balance building new sneaker plant in Southeast Asia. 

Just kidding; it will be built in Massachusetts, USA. 

  more maga

Bechtel gets construction contract for Ohio ethane cracker

A proposed ethane cracker in eastern Ohio has taken another step forward, Kallanish Energyreports.

The giant international engineering firm Bechtel has announced it has been hired by Thailand’s PTT Global Chemical America and South Korea-based partner Daleim to build a $6 billion cracker.

The plant would be constructed at Shadyside on the Ohio River in Belmont County.

Work underway on Shell Chemical Appalachia plant

Shell Chemical Appalachia is building a petrochemical plant in Potter Township, Pa., and more than 100 cranes can be seen from the construction site, including a 695-foot-tall behemoth known as the Mother of All Cranes.

The Business Journals (tiered subscription model)/Pittsburgh (7/1) 

Ford completed $1 billion in upgrades at its two Chicago plants, including new body and paint shops, a revamped cafeteria and break room, and improved parking security. The latest Ford Explorer, Lincoln Aviator and Police Interceptor Utility vehicles will be produced at the plants, where 500 jobs were added.

WLS-TV (Chicago) (6/25) 

Stocks at record highs (again).

Have a great Independence Day!

QO that plant is literally 4 ridges away from my house and has been in the works for years now. Before Trump decided to run for President.

Excellent ……..and no radical progressive state government or federal bureaucracy put a halt to it.  Take care.

U.S. oil production hit a record in April—more than 12 million barrels per day. The Houston Chronicle (subscription) has the numbers from the U.S. Energy Information Administration:

• “The 12.2 million barrels a day mark comes less than a year after the United States surpassed 11 million barrels a day, in what had been a record at the time.”
• “‘The U.S. onshore crude oil production increase is driven mainly by developing low permeability (tight) formations using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. EIA estimates that crude oil production from tight formations in April 2019 reached 7.4 million b/d, or 61% of the U.S. total,’ the report read.”

Meanwhile, Texas had an impressive showing:

• “Texas alone produced almost 5 million barrels a day in April, up more than 25 percent from the beginning of 2018.”

My, my …..didn’t government experts and other liberals tell us peak oil was 45 years ago?

^^^^^^^^^^All great but I just paid 2.98 a gallon so I dont care where the oil is coming from......sounds like it should be $1.50 a gallon.

posted by Spock

^^^^^^^^^^All great but I just paid 2.98 a gallon so I dont care where the oil is coming from......sounds like it should be $1.50 a gallon.

That's because Ohio just passed a new 10.5 cent tax increase on gas that took affect July 1st. So from June 30 to July 1 all gas in Ohio went up 10.5 cents per gallon.

posted by jmog

That's because Ohio just passed a new 10.5 cent tax increase on gas that took affect July 1st. So from June 30 to July 1 all gas in Ohio went up 10.5 cents per gallon.

Before the holiday weekend, gas was $2.25 where I live (still really high if you live in the highest oil producer in the world).  So $2.99 is just straight price gauging.

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/gas-prices/#20192:United-States:USD:g

While US is better off then most, big oil producers are paying in some cases $.00- $0.50 a gallon for gas

posted by Spock

^^^^^^^^^^All great but I just paid 2.98 a gallon so I dont care where the oil is coming from......sounds like it should be $1.50 a gallon.

"Should be?"

Let me explain how free market capitalism works ...

posted by O-Trap

"Should be?"

Let me explain how free market capitalism works ...

Lets not believe that the gas industry is part of the "free market".  The local bakery is "free market".  Gas and oil is highly regulated, controlled, monopolized, subsidized outside the "free market".  

If we are producing that much oil, gas prices should be way down.  Oil producing countries all have way lower price points.  Only in America does it jump up 30-40% in one day based on a holiday or a weekend.  

posted by Spock

Lets not believe that the gas industry is part of the "free market".  The local bakery is "free market".  Gas and oil is highly regulated, controlled, monopolized, subsidized outside the "free market".  

If we are producing that much oil, gas prices should be way down.  Oil producing countries all have way lower price points.  Only in America does it jump up 30-40% in one day based on a holiday or a weekend.  

If you want to blame it on the regulation, you'd maybe have a case, but you'd have to articulate how.

Subsidies should theoretically make it cheaper, not more expensive.  Not sure how that helps your notion that it "should be" lower.

Finally, where's the monopoly?  There are several large oil companies.

You blamed it on "gauging" [sic], which isn't affected by government influence outside of forced price manipulation.  If the demand allows for it to be that high, it'll be that high for free market reasons.

The bottom line is, there is no "should" price.  Even in a less-than-free market like ours, there is no objective price for a good or service.

The only ideologies who disagree with that statement are ideologies I don't think you want to be associated with.

There's like 50-60 cents a gallon in taxes, for starters.

Then you have refinery costs.  Distribution/transportation costs.  And special "summer blends" for environmental reasons also make gas significantly more expensive in the summer.

But take a look at Canada or Europe and then tell me gas companies are gouging us.

Gov't makes more per gallon than the oil companies, don't they?

posted by justincredible

Gov't makes more per gallon than the oil companies, don't they?

Probably.  I haven't looked at it in a long time, but I think crack spreads (the difference between raw and refined crude) are something like 20 cents a gallon.

Actually, crack spreads just hit a 6-yr low...$6.11 per barrel - a barrel holds 42 gallons, so the spread is about 15 cents per gallon.

posted by gut

There's like 50-60 cents a gallon in taxes, for starters.

Then you have refinery costs.  Distribution/transportation costs.  And special "summer blends" for environmental reasons also make gas significantly more expensive in the summer.

But take a look at Canada or Europe and then tell me gas companies are gouging us.

Bingo.

posted by justincredible

Gov't makes more per gallon than the oil companies, don't they?

Hence not part of the free market

Those taxes are supposed to pay for highway repair, which is why they were originally passed. Now it just goes into general funds and therefore gets spent on un-needed wars and bank bailouts.

But yes, the oil companies make roughly 9-10% profit which on $3.00/gallon gasoline is not quite 30 cents per gallon profit. 

With the new Ohio tax as of July 1 Ohio taxes gasoline at 28.01 cents/gallon, add in the federal tax of 18.4 cents/gallon and you have the government making 46.41 cents/gal here in Ohio while the oil company makes 30 cents.

Ohio was one of the lowest state tax (next to Alaska and Missouri) before this hike. Now we are more around the 15th cheapest state now.  

California and Pennsylvania are the highest, which is why if I am traveling east I try to fill up in Ohio before I start driving through PA.

Cigarettes are the other consumer item (maybe alcohol too) that the government makes more than the producer when sold.

posted by Spock

Lets not believe that the gas industry is part of the "free market".  The local bakery is "free market".  Gas and oil is highly regulated, controlled, monopolized, subsidized outside the "free market".  

If we are producing that much oil, gas prices should be way down.  Oil producing countries all have way lower price points.  Only in America does it jump up 30-40% in one day based on a holiday or a weekend.  

retail price history:

I will take where we are today.

posted by Spock

Hence not part of the free market

Nobody said it was completely free.  However, the rules of supply and demand do exist, even our regulated markets, and those are free market concepts.  You're falling into the trap of a false dichotomy, insisting that if it's not a totally free market, that no elements of a free market economy exist.

You said $2.99 was price gouging.  If it's caused exclusively by governing bodies and regulatory agencies, then it's not gouging.  If it's caused by the oil or gas companies, then it's businesses changing prices to fit what they think they can earn based on supply and demand rules, which is a free market concept.

Either way, it's not "gouging."  You can be mad about it and grumble about it all you want, but the oil companies have every right to set their prices however they want.

“Payrolls [surged] by 224,000 jobs in June, the government reported last Friday. The unemployment rate rose one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.7% as more people entered the labor market, a sign of confidence in their employment prospects.”

It is time to slash welfare benefits by 30% to bring people into the job market and fill the millions of open jobs, and help balance the budget.